One Candle
by greypolkadots
Summary: Alex and Arizona celebrate their daughter's first birthday with cake, presents and maybe something more? Set in the Sweet Sixteen 'verse. August 2016.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have found that I need to reiterate my disclaimer that I added to my stories when I first started writing this pairing - if you don't want to read an Alex/Arizona story then please stop reading now and use the back button on your browser. I have no problem receiving negative feedback but at least be critical of my writing, not just the fact that you dislike what I write.

For those of you that are still reading, I thank you and hope that you enjoy! I know many of you have been waiting for this story for awhile!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**...**

Arizona was surprised to wake up to her alarm clock going off, signaling that it was time to get up for work. She rarely woke up to the alarm clock anymore. She had a different alarm that woke her up most days; it was in the form of her infant daughter. But Arizona kept the regular alarm set just in case a miracle happened and Abby didn't wake her up an hour before she needed to be out of bed. The infant was very much a morning person and hated to sleep past six in the morning. The baby girl had no concept of sleeping in or days off, which was quite annoying for her parents who often worked late and overnight shifts. But, early morning wakes up were a part of being a parent. While Arizona loved her sleep, waking up to seeing her daughter smiling up at her from the crib was an acceptable reason to get up early and she adjusted to the early morning wake up cries - but that didn't mean that she had to like them.

Arizona rolled over in bed when the alarm started buzzing and turned it off before rolling back and pulling the comforter tighter around her body. While she was surprised that her daughter had let her sleep in, she wasn't going to turn away the gift. Arizona figured she could get a few more minutes of rest before having to get up and face the day. It was as she was nestling her head back into the pillows that she heard soft voices coming from the kitchen. A year ago she would have freaked out that someone had broken in but she had gotten used to waking up to another person in her home. Alex would often take the stairs two flights down from his condo to join them for breakfast. Realizing that Alex must have been the reason for her extra hour of sleep, she decided that she could forego the five extra minutes of sleep she was trying to get and join them in the kitchen.

The soft whispers got louder as Arizona exited her bedroom. She could hear Alex going over each step he was doing as he made breakfast.

"Look! Mama's up!" Alex whispered into his daughter's ear as he held her in one arm while he worked on cooking breakfast with the other.

Arizona smiled when she saw walked into the kitchen and saw her daughter in her father's arms. Seeing Abby always knocked the grumpy morning blues out of her and made her happy - even more so because of what day it was.

"Happy birthday, Sweetheart," Arizona cooed as she made her way around the breakfast bar and scooped Abby out of her father's grasp. She was welcomed with a slurry of babbling including something that sounded like mama and hello from her daughter as she gave the baby her good morning kisses. Once she was done saying good morning to her daughter she turned her attention to the man behind the stove. She leaned up to give him a soft good morning kiss on the cheek, "And good morning to you, Alex. How long have you been here?"

"About an hour and a half. I wanted to intercept her before she woke you up," Alex finished scrambling the eggs and put them on a plate. He turned away from the stove and toward Arizona and tugged on Abby's pajama clad foot, tickling the bottom of her toes causing a belly laugh from the little girl. "We wanted to give you the gift of some extra sleep today."

"A gift for me?" Arizona acted shocked at the baby who was happily chewing on her own first but gave Arizona a toothy grin when she saw her mama smiling at her. "Thank you for giving me a gift on your special day, Abbs."

Alex grabbed the plate full of eggs and pancakes and made his way toward the table that he had already set for breakfast. "Well, you did go through ten hours of labor to get her here." Alex took Abby from Arizona's hands and placed her in her high chair, "The least we could do for you today is give you an extra hour of sleep, right, Ladybug?"

Arizona leaned over to kiss Abby's chubby cheek, "Well thank you for that, Miss Abby. That extra hour felt heavenly."

Having a family breakfast was a relatively common occurrence in both of their homes. Depending on which day of the week it was and where Abby was spending the night, the parent that didn't have custody the night before would often show up for breakfast in the morning. It was a nice time for Alex and Arizona to talk about what had happened the day before with their daughter and if there was anything coming up that day that needed to be discussed. Plus, they liked to do things as a family. They were a non-traditional family but still a family and Alex and Arizona wanted Abby to know that. But this family breakfast was special because it was Abby's very first birthday.

After all the pancakes and eggs were gone, Arizona stood and started to collect the dirty plates from the table. "Time for a cupcake!" Arizona exclaimed as she finished clearing the plates and headed for the kitchen.

Arizona returned a few moments later with a chocolate cupcake decorated like a ladybug (after one of Abby's many bug nicknames provided to her by her father) with one candle stuck in the middle.

"You know it's pretty crazy that for growing up so completely different, we have the same birthday tradition," Alex commented as he grabbed a camera to capture the moment.

When they first started planning for Abby's birthday, both were shocked that they shared the same tradition growing up - eating birthday cake for breakfast. Alex thought he was going to have to fight Arizona to get her to let him feed their daughter cake for breakfast. Arizona was all about the health foods so he was sure that cake for breakfast would never fly with his baby's mother. But, as it turns out, Arizona also grew up eating cake for breakfast on her birthday.

"I know," Arizona agreed as she placed the cupcake on the tray of Abby's high chair. "It was the only time The Colonel let us eat dessert without cleaning our plates first."

After a quick family picture with the help of a tripod and self timer, Alex and Arizona sang the happy birthday song quickly to their little girl whose hands were itching to get the tasty treat in front of her. Abby didn't know what to make of the candle. She tried to touch it but her hands were quickly stopped by both of her parents. With some help from her father, Abby blew out the candle and the parents watched and took pictures as Abby destroyed the cupcake - using her tiny hands to shove bite after bite into her mouth. After a few minutes the cupcake had been turned into a mess of crumbs and frosting that covered both the baby and the high chair. Not wanting to leave her parents out, Abby offered each of them a handful of smooshed cake, which they both accepted.

"I'll clean the little lady up, if you want to go ahead and get ready for work," Alex offered as he lifted Abby out of her high chair. He was careful to hold her out at a distance so that her icing covered hands didn't get his shirt messy.

Arizona leaned in and pretended to gnaw on Abby's cheek as she licked a little icing off of her face, "Yummy baby. I'll be ready in a few."

**...**

"Fancy meeting you here," Alex hip checked Arizona who was standing outside the daycare doors, watching the babies play through the glass windows. "She still flirting with Jack?"

Arizona groaned as she watched her daughter play with the blocks with Jack Kline, the son of an anesthesiologist at the hospital. The two babies were born within days of each other and had become fast friends in the daycare - as much as one year olds could be friends. "I'm not sure hitting him with foam blocks counts as flirting."

Alex turned around so that his back was leaning against the glass wall and looking at Arizona, "Oh, it totally counts. I used to punch the girls that I had crushes on in elementary school. It's the Karev in her."

"She is definitely your daughter," Arizona finally took her eyes off of Abby and looked at Alex. "She definitely has your quick temper. I am not looking forward to her teenage years."

Alex laughed as he pushed off the wall and slung his arm around Arizona's shoulder, "She just turned one. You have twelve more years to teach her the Robbins' perk." Alex swiped his id into the door for access and held it open for Arizona, "Now let's go get our girl. There's more cake to be had. And presents."

Arizona went to grab Abby's bag while Alex went to get their daughter. As soon as Alex entered the room, Abby knew that he was there. She was a total daddy's girl and always knew when he was in the room. Abby threw down the block she was playing with and started waddling toward her father. She had been walking for about a month and was pretty steady on her feet unless she was excited. When she got excited it was like the excitement took over her brain and she forgot what she was doing - like walking. And Abby was _always_ excited to see her daddy. Alex kneeled down to the floor and held his arms out to catch her as she toddled into his arms.

Arizona stood back at the doorway and watched as Alex and Abby talked in their own personal language. Abby was only speaking a handful of words but Alex was great at encouraging Abby to talk and responding to her like he knew what she was saying. At first Arizona was jealous of the bond that Alex had with their daughter but she quickly got over it when she realized that Abby loved her just as much, she just showed it in different ways. While Alex's voice was the only one that could get Abby to sleep, Arizona was the only one that could calm her down when she was upset. Arizona understood that daughters had a special bond with their fathers and she treasured the fact that her daughter was able to have that with Alex.

"Mama, we're ready to go," Alex drew Arizona out of her thoughts as he held Abby out for her to hold.

"Mama," Abby parroted as she laid a wet, sloppy kiss on Arizona's chin.

"Right," Arizona smiled at Abby as she gave her own wet, sloppy kiss in return. Arizona nudged Alex, "Let's go. We've got cake. And presents!"

Instead of going home for the evening, the family spent the early evening at their neighborhood park enjoying a pizza picnic and some playground time. Normally, they kept a pretty strict routine and schedule for Abby during the week. Even though she split her time between two houses, they wanted to make sure her daily life was still the same no matter which parent she was with; and a strict routine helped them do just that. But since it was her birthday, a little mid-week fun was allowed while still being careful not to wear her out too much because they did still have cake and presents to enjoy at home.

**...**

"She's going to crash hard from all of this sugar and junk. And we still have her party tomorrow afternoon," Arizona commented as she watched Abby dig into her second cupcake for the day.

"At least your parents are babysitting after the party," Alex said with his mouth full of his own cupcake.

Arizona grimaced as a piece of cupcake flew out of Alex's mouth and hit her in the cheek, "You are not in charge of teaching her manners."

"What?" Alex said as he wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand, refusing the napkin that Arizona held out to him. While he had grown up a lot in the past year, he still hadn't grasped waiting until he finished eating before speaking.

Arizona just rolled her eyes and snatched the rest of his cupcake from his hand and finished it for herself.

"And you are so much better to teach manners?" Alex scoffed at the theft of his cupcake.

"Fine. We both suck," Arizona said with a wave of her hands as she shoved the remnants of the cupcake in her mouth. "Let's do presents now before she falls from the sugar high."

The family migrated from the kitchen toward the living room where Arizona had arranged the gifts earlier. Neither one of the parents knew what the other bought but between both of them their little girl was sure to be spoiled.

"Me first!" Alex exclaimed as he grabbed Abby and pulled her into his lap. "Happy birthday, Love Bug," he whispered into her ear as he put her hands on the wrapping paper.

For it being her first birthday, Abby did really well in the unwrapping department. Arizona blamed it on Abby being passed down her father's destructive gene. She was always willing to destroy things - folded clothes, towers of blocks, her food. It was not a surprise that she took to tearing the wrapping paper as easily as she did. With a little help from Alex, Abby successfully uncovered a red wagon full of toys.

"Did you buy out the toy store?" Arizona asked as her daughter squealed when Alex handed her a plush toy designed to teach colors.

Alex leaned his chin on Abby's head as she played in his arms, "Only the very best for my baby girl." Alex pressed the toy in Abby's hands, causing the toy to light up and make sounds. Abby squealed and started clapping at the toy. "Plus, I loved my wagon when I was a kid and now she's big enough to go on rides in it. It's way cooler to ride in when we go to the park than her stroller. But a wagon would be a pretty lame gift so I figured I couldn't go wrong with some toys too."

"The wagon is pretty cool," Arizona agreed. She had her own fond memories as a kid in a red wagon. "But all the toys that make annoying sounds are totally staying at Daddy's house."

"Fair enough," Alex acquiesced as he watched Abby continue to pull toys out of the wagon and play with them.

"Mama's turn now," Arizona announced. "Come to Mama, Abbs."

Abby reluctantly tore her gaze away from the toy she had in her hands and wobbled over to her mother, toy still clutched in her tiny fist.

After learning from opening her father's gift, Abby easily tore open her mother's. She was only slowed in the process because she refused to drop the toy so she had so she had to unwrap her gift with one hand.

"Okay, so I get her a wagon full of toys but you get her that," Alex gestured to the pink rocking horse that Abby was eagerly climbing on. "When she wants a pony, that's all on you, Robbins."

"Unlike you, Karev, I can say no to her," Arizona laughed. She was pretty sure that if Abby asked her father for a pony, Alex would find a way to try to make it happen.

"I don't know how," Alex pouted and crawled on the floor next to Abby to help her get on the horse. "When she looks at you with those big eyes and chubby cheeks. She's impossible to say no to."

Abby continued to squeal and laugh as she rocked on the pink horse, still not releasing the toy that her father had given her either. Arizona and Alex were helpless to do anything other than watch her play. Eventually, with the combination of coming down off a sugar high and all of the extra play time in her day, Abby wore herself out. When she started getting cranky, Arizona knew it was time to get her to bed. Their daughter had had a very busy first birthday and she needed to rest up for her birthday party the next day.

Alex and Arizona went through their normal bedtime routine. When their schedules allowed them, they tried to put her down for bed together - no matter whose house she was sleeping in that night. Arizona handled bath time while Alex read her to sleep. Arizona attributed the fact that while pregnant she always fell asleep while listening to Alex's recordings to their daughter's inability to fall asleep without hearing his voice. Arizona even had to play the recordings for her on the nights that Alex couldn't call or be there himself.

Arizona watched as Alex gently lifted Abby up and put her in her crib after she fell asleep in his lap while they were reading in the rocking chair. Once she was settled in the crib and still asleep, Arizona leaned down into the crib and ran her hand through her daughter's wispy blonde hair.

"Sleep tight," Arizona whispered quietly before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

Alex wrapped his hand around Arizona's waist as they watched their daughter sleep soundly, "Not too much longer until we move her into a toddler bed."

Arizona turned in his arms just enough to swat him in the chest, "Bite your tongue. There's no way she'll ever be old enough for that."

Alex let out a little chuckle and rested his head against Arizona's. "That's what you said about her turning one, too."

Arizona sighed and reached into the crib to run her hand over Abby's arm, "It seems like she was born just yesterday. How is it possible that it's been a whole year?"

"I know what you mean," Alex sighed. "She's growing up way too fast. At least she hasn't learned the word no yet."

"I can't imagine what she'll be like then," Arizona glanced up at Alex. "She's exactly like you so she'll love driving me crazy by telling me no over and over again."

"I'm pretty sure that you tell me no all the time too," Alex fought back. "So it's not all my fault."

"I still claim that her fiery attitude is pure Karev," Arizona stated while still staring at their little girl. "Not that that's a bad thing," she added when she could feel Alex gear up to defend himself. "I happen to like the Karev genes."

"Nice save," Alex chuckled as he pulled Arizona in closer to his body.

Since Abby had come along their personal boundaries were long gone. They had both seen each other at their best and worst over their year of co-parenting. Arizona was a touchy-feely person by nature so it was only natural for her to be that way with her closest friend. And Alex learned to accept the touchy-feeliness and after a short time even reciprocated it. It felt nice to be hugged and to give hugs. And they wanted their daughter to know that they did love each other - so hugs, innocent touching and kisses on the cheek were common for the two friends. They were just comfortable with each other. They knew that with each other they didn't need to hide anything. They could be themselves without any masks.

They stood in their daughter's bedroom, watching her sleep while embracing for quite awhile. They were both going over a year's worth of memories in their minds as they watched her sleep. At the same, time they both realized that if it weren't for the other one, they wouldn't be there. They wouldn't have their precious daughter and a year's worth of memories and a future of unlimited ones.

"Thank you," Alex mumbled as he lifted a hand to caress Arizona's cheek. "For her."

Arizona shook her head lightly, "No, thank you." It was Alex who had given her Abby. It was his kindness to help out a friend that had given her their daughter. Without him, Abby wouldn't be Abby.

No other words were said as they both stared into the others' eyes. After a moment, Arizona leaned up on her toes and ran her hand across Alex's throat to hold him by the neck. "Thank you," she whispered again as she captured his lips in a kiss.

When Alex saw Arizona coming in for a kiss he assumed it would be a simple peck on the lips. He was wrong. Arizona immediately parted her lips and moved their lips together so that she could explore his mouth. Instinctively, Alex wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and ran the other hand through her hair. His body responded naturally to the kiss. He was too stunned by what was happening to actually _think_ about what was happening. And Arizona didn't show any signs of slowing down.

When she finally broke for air, she remained close to Alex. She didn't move, she only shifted her head against his so that she could breathe.

"What was that?" Alex whispered, having no idea why Arizona had just kissed him. Over the course of the past year he often thought that they two shared moments that could become something more but neither of them ever turned them into something more. Arizona just turned that moment into something more.

"A kiss," Arizona stated the obvious right before planting her lips on his again. The truth was she wasn't sure what it was either. She just knew that while looking into his eyes she had the urge to kiss him. So she did. And it felt good so she kept doing it.

This time Arizona took control of the kiss. She grabbed Alex by the shirt and pushed him out of their daughter's room, all while not breaking the kiss. She continued to move them into the living room where she pushed him against a nearby wall.

"Again, what was that, Arizona?" Alex asked when she finally took a break. He wasn't one to complain about making out with a woman but Arizona wasn't just any woman to him. She was his closest friends and the mother of his child.

"Alex," Arizona moaned as she opened her eyes to look at him. She didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to enjoy the feeling of comfort and love that she was getting from him. She couldn't keep her eyes from darting back and forth between his lips and his eyes. "Just let me kiss you. You kissed me a year ago today and I didn't ask you any questions. So just stop thinking and let me kiss you."

The tone of Arizona's voice was almost begging him to keep going and even though they might regret it later, he was going to give her what she wanted. Alex wrapped his arms back around Arizona as he gently lifted her off the ground and started making his way toward her bedroom. "I'll kiss you, but not against the doorknob. That hurts," he said as he gently fell back against the bed and pulled Arizona on top of him.

Arizona was the one to start the kissing so Alex wanted her to have the control. He did that by letting her be on top. Arizona gave him a sly smirk as she stretched her body out against his and captured his lips again.

They spent the next hour making out on her bed like teenagers. Neither one made an attempt to take it past first base. It took a lot of effort but Alex was able to keep his hands from roaming too far. He didn't want to push Arizona into anything she didn't want. So he kept one hand tangled in her hair while the other rubbed up and down her side. He wasn't sure what had prompted the make out session but he didn't want to do anything that would make her feel uncomfortable. Arizona also kept her hands in fairly chaste areas. Her hands mainly stayed in Alex's hair. But just because Alex was keeping his hands chaste didn't mean that the rest of his body was unaffected. It didn't take long for Arizona to feel Alex's excitement. It had been a long time since she had felt a man's erection but she knew that was what it was. She felt oddly turned on, knowing that she turned Alex on. Alex for his part did his best to ignore the throbbing in his pants and ignore the desire to grind his hips up into Arizona's body. Even if Arizona wanted to take their making out to the next level, Alex wasn't going to let that happen.

It wasn't until they heard a pager going off in the living room that they tore their lips apart. Arizona sighed as she fell onto her back on the bed while Alex went to see what was going on.

"I've got to go in," Alex held up his pager as he walked back into the bedroom. "Emergency with a NICU baby. Looks like it might take awhile."

Arizona bit her lip and nodded, "Go save some lives."

Alex walked toward her on the bed and ducked his head down to give her a kiss on the cheek, "Tomorrow we're talking about this."

"Drive safely," Arizona nodded meekly. She knew that he was right. They needed to talk about it.

Arizona couldn't take her eyes off of Alex as she watched him leave her bedroom. Once she heard the front door shut, she grabbed a pillow next to her on the bed and threw it on top of her head. She had no idea what had happened over the last two hours. She knew _what_ had happened but she didn't know _why_ it happened. All she knew was that she was looking at Alex and she wanted to kiss him. So she did. Over the last year she and Alex had gotten close. Very close. And occasionally she found herself looking at him and thinking about being with him. She didn't linger on those thoughts because she was a lesbian. She thought she was just making up feelings for him because he was her father's daughter. She didn't think that she could actually have feelings for a man. But when she thought about the year she had with Alex and Abby she felt a surge of love. Love toward Alex. Not friendly love but _love_ love. And she simply had to act on it.

Maybe their daughter wasn't the only one taking after Alex as Arizona decided to act first and think later when she started kissing Alex. Now, after kissing him she was more confused than ever. And she knew that Alex had to be confused as well. Arizona fell asleep hoping that she didn't just mess everything up.

**...**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The second half of the story. Thanks for all the reviews and comments on the first part. I hope you like the end of the story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**...**

The next morning Arizona was nervously pacing around her living room when a knock on the door caused her to jump in place.

"Finally! Took you long enough," Arizona said as she flung the front door open.

"You called me a half hour ago. It takes me fifteen minutes to drive here," Teddy defended herself as she dropped her purse on the counter before going to find her favorite one year old. "Where's my munchkin?" she asked when she didn't find the baby playing in the living room.

"Nap time with her father," Arizona explained as she continued to pace around the room. "Alex had to work all night so he took her to take a nap with him so that they could both be well rested while I got ready for the party."

"Ahh," Teddy said knowingly. "That's why you called me. You need help getting ready now that Alex is sleeping. I thought I was supposed to be a guest at this party. Not free labor."

"No," Arizona said as she tugged on Teddy's hand so that they both ended up sitting on the couch. "I mean, yes I do need help with that, but right now I have something more important to talk to you about."

"Okay...," Teddy said leadingly, trying to figure out just what was going on with one of her best friends.

"Last night," Arizona tried to verbalize what had happened but was having a hard time saying it out loud. After trying and failing to come up with the words she decided to just spit it out. "Last night, I made out with..."

"Wait!" Teddy interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "You made out with someone? This is huge, Arizona. Good for you," Teddy had a proud look on her face as she looked at her friend. "Most of your dates end up with awkward pats on the back, not making out."

"Right," Arizona sighed nervously. "This is _huge_. But it wasn't someone I went out on a date with." Arizona took a deep breath, ready to spill her secret. She needed to process her feelings out loud and since it was about Alex she couldn't confide in him.

"Hussy," Teddy smirked. "So what's the problem? You don't want to date her? Was she a bad kisser? Too much tongue? There's a fine line with kissing and tongue..."

"No," Arizona sighed. "The kissing was good. It was great. Amazing, even."

"I don't see a problem here," Teddy wondered just what had her friend so upset.

Arizona grabbed a pillow off the couch and hugged it to her chest, trying to get comfort from it. "You see, it wasn't a girl I was kissing. It was Alex."

"You and Alex?" Teddy asked to make sure she heard her right. It wasn't what she expected to hear but she had to admit she wasn't totally surprised by it.

"Yep. Me and Alex," Arizona stood up and resumed pacing around the room.

Teddy's mouth turned into a sly smile, "You know, I'm not really shocked."

"What?" Arizona raised her voice. She didn't know how Teddy couldn't be shocked by her news. Arizona herself was shocked by it so Teddy should have been floored.

"You two have gotten really close," Teddy explained. "Like _really _close. Mark and Callie co-parent and aren't half as close as you two are and they were best friends before having Sofia."

"That's because we have rules and they don't," Arizona justified her good relationship with Alex before trying to get them back on topic. "But really? You're not shocked because I feel like I've been abducted by _aliens_."

"It's natural to have a crush on your best friend. I think it's a rite of passage for girls. I always crushed hard on my guy friends. Your best friend just happens to be a guy instead of a girl this time. But before we deal with that, first you gotta back up and tell me how all this happened," Teddy said as she grabbed Arizona's hand and pulled her back on the couch.

Arizona replayed the whole night to her friend. Not that there was that much to say. It was really just a lot of kissing. A lot of really good kissing.

"And he wants to talk about it today?" Teddy asked as Arizona finished talking.

Arizona nodded, "Yep. He didn't say anything about it this morning when he picked up Abbs but I know he's going to want to talk tonight and I have no clue what to say to him."

"Well, how do you feel about it all? Besides confused?" Teddy tried to help her friend work through her situation. "How did it feel during the moment before your brain caught up to your body?"

"Great," Arizona answered truthfully. "Really great."

"And there was definitely a more than friends vibe?"

Arizona laughed at her friend. She and Alex had made out for over an hour. There was no way there wasn't a more than friends feeling happening between them. "Yes."

"Maybe you should just see where this goes?" Teddy suggested.

"He's the father of my child!" Arizona exclaimed like that was a reason for it not to happen.

"Exactly," Teddy said. She thought the fact that they shared a child was a reason for them to try not an excuse for them not to try. "You owe it to your daughter to explore this."

Arizona fell onto her back as she stared at the ceiling, "There are so many things that can go wrong with this. What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

It was Teddy's turn to laugh at her friend. "A blind man can see how much Alex cares for you."

"Yes, we love each other. As friends. As co-parents. But not as _lovers_."

"Arizona, he stares at you all the time. When we're all at lunch, he can't take his eyes off of you. I'm sure whatever feelings he _does_ have, he's pushed deep down inside because he figured he'd never have a chance with you. But those feelings are there. I promise you. There's a reason why he doesn't date anymore."

"Because he has a demanding job and an infant daughter that takes up all of his free time."

"No," Teddy shook his head. "It's probably the same reason why, on the rare occasion when you do go out on a date with a woman, you always end up coming home early and never go out on a second date."

"Those don't work out because I haven't felt a spark with any of those women. It has nothing to do with Alex," Arizona retorted.

Teddy patted Arizona's knee knowingly, "But you do feel a spark with Alex."

"I do. But...,"Arizona sighed. There had definitely been a spark the night before.

"No buts," Teddy interrupted.

"_But_ I don't know if I can risk it," Arizona continued over her friend's interruption. "There's just too much on the line. If we were to even try something that could ruin everything we have going for us with Abby. Things are so great with her and how we work together for her. I can't ruin that."

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told you many years ago. _Pop the bubble_. I know you. And I know that no matter what happens you won't let anything hurt Abby. But you can't live in your fairy tale bubble world for the rest of your life. I know you don't want to teach Abby to not go after what she wants. That's what you're doing if you don't at least see what could be with Alex."

Arizona threw the pillow she was clutching at her friend, "Sometimes you suck. You know that?"

Teddy caught the pillow before it hit her in the head, "Pop the bubble."

"I'll think about it," Arizona said as she noticed the time on the clock. "But now I really do need your help. Party time is in less than two hours and I need to finish getting all the food ready and getting the park set up."

**...**

Thanks to Teddy's help, Arizona was able to have everything set-up by the time the birthday girl and the party guests arrived. Arizona never thought that she'd be a parent let alone one of those parents that went overboard on birthdays that the child would never even remember. But parenthood changed her. And her daughter only had one first birthday so she was going to do everything possible to make it as perfect as it could be even if Abby would only ever know about the party through pictures.

They chose to have the party at their local park. It was the end of summer which was the perfect time in Seattle to have an outdoor party. The theme of the party was bugs after their daughter's strange fascination with them. Arizona blamed Alex for the bug fetish because he insisted on calling her various terms of endearment than ended in bug: love bug and ladybug being the most common. Ever since she could crawl, Abby had a knack for finding bugs. Alex was sure she just wanted to play with them and be their friend but Abby's less than gentle touch always ended up with them being dead in a matter of seconds. Even though both of her parents hated bugs, their love for their daughter made them embrace bugs and create a birthday party around them. There were cups of dirt cake, cookies cut into the shape of butterflies, raisins and celery made to look like ants on a log and to top it all off, a cake that looked like a ladybug. With a face painter ready to make every child look they were a bug themselves and two piñatas (one for the kids and one for the adults) shaped like bee hives, no one could deny that Alex and Arizona didn't embraced the bug theme.

The party was buzzing and their baby was one very spoiled little girl going by the size of the present table. They had invited friends from the hospital, daycare and playgroups but with everyone's busy schedules Arizona was impressed that so many people took time out of their day to celebrate her daughter.

"You owe me," Meredith said as she came up behind Alex who was hanging out on the edge of the playground watching Abby go down the slide in her grandmother's lap.

"What?" Alex turned at the sound of her voice. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw that Meredith's face had been painted into a butterfly. "That's a good look on you but how is that my fault?," he asked while trying to stop laughing.

Meredith rolled her eyes, "Zola wouldn't take no for an answer. And this wouldn't have happened if you didn't have this creepy bug party."

Alex shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching Abby run around the playground, "Abby loves the bugs. If Zola loved bugs you'd have a bug party too."

"I don't care what she loves. You owe me."

When Alex failed to give her the attention she was looking for, Meredith moved to stand in front of Alex. "Are you even listening to me?" she turned around to see what Alex was looking at.

"Huh?" Alex said, entranced by Abby who had ditched her grandmother and was now on her mother's lap on the swings.

"Dude, you got it bad," Meredith commented as she saw what Alex was staring at. "You are so whipped."

"What?" Alex got defensive. "Just because I'm watching my kid play at _her_ birthday party?"

"No, because you're practically drooling over your kid's mother. Your kid's mother who is gay."

Alex tore his eyes off of Arizona and looked at Meredith, "I'm not drooling over her. I'm just watching them have fun. Look at how happy they look."

"I've seen that look before Alex. That's the same look you used to give Izzie. You _cannot_ fall for her."

"She kissed me last night."

"What?" Meredith said loudly as she grabbed Alex's arm and tugged him off to the side where there were no prying ears. Once they were away from others she demanded more information. "Say that again."

Alex shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "She kissed me after we put Abbs to bed. We were making out like teenagers until I got paged in."

"Seriously?" Meredith said not knowing what else to say. She was officially speechless. She had thought for months that Alex had feelings for Arizona but never thought that Arizona would have feelings for him.

"You're telling me," Alex was just as shocked by what happened as Meredith was.

"So now what?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I have no idea if she was just horny or experimenting or what. We said we'd talk about it today but we've been so busy that we haven't had a chance yet."

"Well what do you want to happen?"

Alex sighed deeply and looked at the ground. "I don't know. I think the feelings are real. They felt real last night but I can't risk losing my daughter."

"Arizona would never take Abby from you," Meredith said as she gently lifted Alex's face to look at her. "You know that."

"But us hooking up and then things ending because she realized that she really doesn't like penis would change things."

"But not necessarily in a bad way," Meredith interjected.

Alex gave a nervous laugh, "Since when did you get all bright and shiny instead of dark and twisty?"

"Motherhood. Just like how you aren't the jerk that you used to be either."

Alex huffed. He liked to think that he was still a bit of a bad boy but he knew that Meredith was right. Ever since Abby's birth he turned into a big old softie that would rather spend his nights singing nursery rhymes and making stuffed bunnies talk than going to the bars to pick up random girls.

"Just talk to her," Meredith encouraged him. "See what she's thinking. And go from there. But I think both of you could be really happy. And you both deserve to be happy."

Alex nodded as Meredith patted his back and walked back to the party. As Meredith was walking away, Arizona and Abby were walking toward him. Arizona giggling at Meredith's face paint as they passed each other.

"Abby's ready for cake, Daddy," Arizona spoke as soon as she got close enough to Alex.

Abby lunged out of Arizona's arms, reaching out for her father as soon as they got near him.

Alex reached out and plucked her from Arizona's arms, kissing her on top of the head. "You want cake, Bug?" Alex asked his daughter who immediately started nodding her head up and down. "I think she wants cake, Mama."

Arizona laughed and hooked her arm through Alex's free arm, refusing to let things get awkward between them. They started walking toward the picnic tables, "We better get the birthday girl some cake then."

**...**

Children's parties were stressful. There were things to plan, food to prepare, and a lot of little kids to keep happy. After weeks of planning, Abby's first birthday party went off without a hitch. And even better, Arizona's parents had demanded that they be allowed to have their grandchild all to themselves for the night after the party. Arizona and Alex didn't have to be told twice to get lost.

Not used to doing anything on a Friday night besides spending it with their daughter, Alex and Arizona went to the one place they knew was always a good time - Joe's.

"You are awesome," Alex muttered as Arizona slid a beer under his nose.

Arizona just smirked and took her seat back at the table full of their friends. "A trip to the bar should happen after every kid's birthday party."

The rest of the table chorused their agreement. While they all loved their children and their friend's children, an afternoon full of screaming toddlers was no ones idea of a good time.

"I gotta admit Abby's party was pretty good," Cristina said as she pulled a tiny bottle of liquor out of her purse and downed it in one gulp.

Alex laughed at her antics, "That's just because we filled a piñata full of those bottles of alcohol."

"We do know our way to our friend's hearts," Arizona chimed in to the conversation. Filling a piñata with alcohol was one of their ways to thank all of their friends for coming to an infant's birthday party.

Since nights out at Joe's were rare for everyone sitting at the table, they all took full advantage of the night away from children and work. The table was filled with laughter and story telling as the drinks kept flowing from their favorite bartender. Arizona was smart enough to not drink too much. She and Alex still hadn't talked about what happened the night before and if Alex wanted to talk about it before the end of the night she didn't want to be drunk for that conversation.

After a couple of hours of hanging out at the table, everyone started migrating to other parts of the bar. The boys headed to the dart boards while the girls hit the makeshift dance floor and danced it out.

When the jukebox switched to a slow jam, Cristina and Meredith went in search of their men. Derek and Owen were reluctantly tugged onto the dance floor by their wives. Arizona was about to follow Teddy back to their table for a rest when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"May I?" Alex asked as he held his arms open.

Arizona nodded and wrapped her arms around Alex as they started swaying to the song.

"Having a good time?" Arizona asked as she rested her head on Alex's shoulder.

Alex let his hands slip down to Arizona's lower back, "It's been a great day."

"It has," Arizona agreed.

"I don't want to mess this up," Alex admitted as they continued to dance together. He knew that Arizona would know what he was talking about.

"Neither do I," Arizona said at a whisper as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Alex's arms around her.

Alex leaned down and placed a small kiss on the top of Arizona's head, "Do you think we can do it? Without messing things up?"

Arizona squeezed Alex tighter, "I don't know." If she knew the answer to that question it would make the whole situation easier, but like anyone else she couldn't predict the future.

Alex rested his head on top of Arizona's, "I like you."

"I like you, too."

After their confessions of mutual like, the two remained silent as they continued to dance to the song. The song ended and one with a much faster beat came through the speakers. Alex reluctantly released his hold on Arizona. Arizona gave him a small smile before turning to head back to the table. Just before she got out of his reach, Alex stuck his hand out and grabbed onto Arizona's hand.

He tugged her back into his body, "I'd really like to try."

Arizona just stared at him like he had two heads. It wasn't the reaction he was expecting from her. He expected her to say something, not just remain silent. Not willing to handle the silence he added, "If you'd like to. I'd really like to try. Because I think that we could be really good together."

Arizona stayed silent for another moment causing Alex to think that he really messed things up by suggesting that they try something together. Arizona looked him up and down and then nodded, "I'd really like to try too."

Alex grinned down at Arizona and lifted her head up, "I'd really like to kiss you right now but I understand if you don't want to because I know that all of our friends are staring at us. And we haven't _really_ talked yet but..."

Alex's voice trailed off as both he and Arizona turned their heads to look at the table where their group had congregated. Most everyone had left the dance floor as they sought out a drink to help tame the thirst that they had worked up while dancing. Alex and Arizona also noticed that everyone at the table was looking in their direction. They were looking at them like they were watching a television show - waiting to see what would happen next. Arizona decided to give them a show.

Arizona turned her head back toward Alex, "Just kiss me, Alex."

Alex nodded and licked his lips as he tilted his head and leaned down to find her lips. They both closed their eyes as their lips connected. Alex's hand found the back of Arizona's head and held her against his lips. The rest of their bodies had stopped moving as they forgot about dancing and focused on the feeling that was coursing through their bodies as they kissed.

Arizona's lips curled into a smile as the pulled out of the kiss and leaned her forehead against Alex's. They both remained silent as they processed what had just happened. Each taking a moment to take it all in. They had just taken a step in their relationship that couldn't be taken back. A step that felt right.

Arizona could tell that everyone's eyes were still on them. Especially after their very public lip lock. She knew that they needed to talk and a crowded bar full of their questioning friends wasn't the place to do it.

"Let's go home," Arizona suggested when she finally opened her eyes.

Alex reached down. laced their hands together and agreed, "Let's go."

Alex and Arizona's hands stayed latched together as Alex drove them through the familiar roads toward their shared condominium building. Arizona's parents were watching Abby in her condo for the night, leaving Arizona to follow Alex upstairs into his condo. There was a nervous energy in the air as Alex shut the door behind them and they made their way to the couch. The last twenty-four hours of their relationship had been unexpected to say the least. They had a lot to talk about but they had the rest of their lives to figure it out.

**...**


End file.
